Socio-economic Status of Hill Farmers: An Exploration from Almora District in Uttarakhand

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1 International Journal of Agriculture and Food Science Technology. ISSN , Volume 4, Number 4 (2013), pp Research India Publications ijafst.htm Socio-economic Status of Hill Farmers: An Exploration from Almora District in Uttarakhand M.L. Roy, Nirmal Chandra, H.L. Kharbikar, Pratibha Joshi and Renu Jethi Social Science Section, Vivekananda Institute of Hill Agriculture, Almora , Uttarakhand, INDIA. Abstract Socio-economic status (SES) is a combined measurement of economic and social position of an entity compared to others in society. It influences the accessibility to the resources, livelihood pattern, food & nutritional security etc. It often predicts the psychological and behavioural components of a sample viz. knowledge, attitude, perception, adoption, change-proneness, level of aspiration, risk bearing ability, economic motivation etc. Present study tried to investigate SES of hill farmers to correlate it with their adoption of improved farm practices which were meant for higher yield, return, proper utilization of natural resources, sustainable livelihood security and food & nutritional enrichment. The study was conducted in Bhagar Tola and Maniagar villages of Dhauladevi block in Almora district of Uttarakhand during Sixty farmers were selected randomly. Ten variables viz. category, age, education, occupation, social participation, landholding, herd size, farming experience, annual income and material possession were selected to assess the SES. Data was collected through a structured interview schedule by personal interview method. The study showed that 58 percent of the respondents were in SC category and rests were in unreserved category. The average age of the respondents was 42 years and most were having medium education level (63.33%). Agriculture was the sole occupation of 25 percent farmers whereas others had subsidiary occupations like labour, shop keeping, driving etc. Majority were found having medium level of social participation (78.34%). The average landholding was 0.40 ha and most were having a medium herd size (66.67%). The respondents had an average farming experience of 19 years. Most of

2 354 M.L. Roy et al the farmers had medium levels of annual income (55%) and material possession (60%). In totality, the study revealed that percent of farmers belonged to low SES category, 55 percent of farmers belonged to medium SES category and percent farmers belonged to high SES category. Keywords: Socio-economic status; hill farmers; socio-economic variables; adoption. 1. Introduction Socio-economic status (SES) is a combined measurement of economic and social position of an individual or a group in relation to others in the society. It has a profound role in determining one s accessibility to the common resources, livelihood pattern, household food & nutritional security etc. It also guides the psychological and behavioural components of a sample viz. knowledge, attitude, perception, adoption, change-proneness, level of aspiration, risk bearing ability, economic motivation etc. There are a lot of social and economic variables which cumulatively define SES. The selection of these variables under SES largely depends on purpose and subject of the study. The SES of hill farmers is an important subject for study as farmers in hills are dwelling in a complex, diverse and risk-prone situation. They are usually practicing traditional ways of cultivation which adds very little to the input. A hill farmer who is only dependent on agriculture hardly secures his family food and nutritionally. There are several improved farm practices viz. improved varieties of cereals, pulses, millets, vegetables and fodders; water conservation; protected cultivation; vermin-composting; light traps for insect control; improved farm implements like iron plough, drillers and threshers; honey bee rearing; mushroom cultivation etc. which can provide higher yield, return, proper utilization of natural resources, sustainable livelihood security and food & nutritional enrichment. These are being demonstrated before the farmers for establishing its credibility to them. The reason behind these practical demonstrations is to make aware the farmers of the multifarious benefits of these improved farm practices so that the faster adoption of these interventions can be possible. Adoption is not only dependent on the practical realization of the superiority of an innovation. There are some latent variables inside the human which largely affects his/her adoption behaviour. These variables are knowledge, attitude, perception, change-proneness, level of aspiration, risk bearing ability, economic motivation etc. As said earlier these variables are often guided by one s socio-economic status. It not only influences the adoption behaviour but also influences the factors which affect the adoption behaviour. Rooted from the above discussion the present study tried to investigate socio-economic status of hill farmers to correlate it with their adoption of improved farm practices.

3 Socio-economic Status of Hill Farmers: An Exploration from Almora District Methodology 2.1 Locale of the study The study was conducted in Almora district of Uttarakhand State in India during Uttarakhand is one of the hilly states besides Himachal Pradesh and Jammu& Kashmir which constitutes the North-Western Himalayan Region of the country. The state Uttarakhand has two divisions- Kumaon and Garhwal. There are 13 districts in Uttarakhand of which six districts are in Kumaon division and seven districts are in Garhwal division. Among these 13 districts, 10 districts are predominantly hilly districts. Almora which is situated on N E and 1800 m amsl is one of the hilly districts of Uttarakhand. 2.2 Sampling plan There are 11 blocks in Almora district. Among these 11 blocks Dhauladevi block was randomly selected. Two villages namely Bhagar Tola and Maniagar from Dhauladevi block were randomly selected. A total of 60 farmers (30 farmers from each village) were randomly taken as sample. 2.3 Selection of variables Ten variables viz. category, age, education, occupation, social participation, landholding, herd size, farming experience, annual income and material possession which constituted the socio-economic profile of a farmer were selected purposively to assess the SES of hill farmers. 2.4 Tools and techniques of data collection A pre-tested structured interview schedule was prepared. Data was collected by personal interview method. 2.5 Statistical tools used Simple statistical tools like frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation were used for analysis and interpretation of data. The respondents were divided into low, medium and high categories on the basis of mean and standard deviation of the total score. 3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Socio-economic profile of the hill farmers A perusal of Table1 showed that 58 percent of the respondents were in SC category and rests were in unreserved category. Ananthan et al. (2002) in their study reported majority of the respondents under backward caste category. Majority of the farmers were in middle-age category (70%). The average age of the respondents was obtained 42 years. Kannan (2002) and Sah (2005) in their research reported that majority of the respondents belong to the medium age groups (37 48 years). Most of the farmers had medium level of education (63.33%). Murali et al. (2003) reported majority of

4 356 M.L. Roy et al respondents under medium level of education. Agriculture was the sole occupation of 25 percent farmers whereas others had subsidiary occupations like labour, shop keeping, driving etc. Majority were found having medium level of social participation (78.34%). Mishra (1979) and Sah (2005) in their study found that majority of the respondents were having medium level of social participation. Most of the respondents were medium farmers (66.66%). The average landholding was calculated to be 0.40 ha. Mishra (1979) and Kannan (2002) in their respective study reported that majority of the respondents were having medium size of land holding. Majority of the farmers were found to be having medium herd size (66.67%). The average herd size was found to be four animals. Chauhan (1979) and Sah (2005) in their study reported that majority of the respondents were having medium herd size. Das (2003) reported that large percentage of respondents had either small or medium herd size ranging between 4-7 dairy animals. Most of the respondents had medium level of farming experience (75%). The average farming experience of the respondents was calculated as 19 years. Most of the farmers had medium levels of annual income (55%) and material possession (60%). Table 1: Socio-economic Profile of Hill Farmers (N=60). Sl. No. Variable Category Frequency Percentage 1 Category SC ST OBC Unreserved Age Young Middle Old Education Low Medium High Occupation Agriculture Agriculture & Others Social participation Low Medium High Landholding Small Medium Large Herd size Low

5 Socio-economic Status of Hill Farmers: An Exploration from Almora District 357 Medium High Farming experience Low Medium High Annual income Low Medium High Material possession Poor Medium High Socio-economic status of the hill farmers The socio-economic status of the respondents was obtained by summation of scores of all the 10 items. Table 2 revealed that percent of farmers belonged to low SES category, 55 percent of farmers belonged to medium SES category and percent farmers belonged to high SES category. Roy et al. (2008) reported majority of the respondents in lower-middle and middle socio-economic status (46.55% and 31.03% respectively). Table 2: Socio-economic Status of Hill Farmers (N=60). Category Frequency Percentage Low Medium High Correlation of socio-economic variables with adoption Correlation of socio-economic variables with adoption was worked out in a further study and it was found that variables like caste, landholding, annual income, material possessions and social participation were significantly correlated at 1% level and education was significantly correlated at 5% level. Age was found to be having no relationship with adoption level of the farmers. 4. Conclusion One of the major goals of agricultural development in hills is to persuade farmers to adopt new profitable technologies. An understanding of the socio-economic status of the hill farmers and its determinants will help in accelerating the process of effective transfer of technology as because it largely affects the adoption process. The above study provides a glimpse of socio-economic profile of a sample of hill farmers and

6 358 M.L. Roy et al ascertains their socio-economic status. It also indicates the socio-economic variables which are associated with the adoption behaviour. The highly correlating socioeconomic variable have to be considered first before offering any technology for adoption and technology should be developed in such a manner so that it creates a symphony with the existing socio-economic status of the intended people. References [1] A K Sah (2005), Entrepreneurship among milk producers in northern region of India (Ph.D Thesis), NDRI Deemed University, Karnal,India. [2] J P S Chauhan (1979), A study on some socio-personal, economic and entrepreneurial characteristics in relation to entrepreneurial role performance of milk producers of Karnal city (M.Sc Thesis), Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India. [3] K Murali and A Jhamtani (2003), Entrepreneurial characteristics of floriculture farmers, Ind. J. Extn. Education, 39, 1&2, pp [4] M Kannan (2002), Knowledge and attitude of dairy entrepreneurs about improved dairy farming practices in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu (M.Sc Thesis), NDRI Deemed University, Karnal,India. [5] M L Roy, S Mondal and R P Meena (2008), Socio-economic status analysis of Gram Panchayat members in Burdwan district of West Bengal, Ind. J. Ext. Science, 3,1, pp [6] P S Ananthan and A Jhamtani (2002), Farmers perception of pollution in Bhavani river basin and the media s construction of it, Ind. J. Extn. Education, 38, 3&4, pp [7] S Das (2003), A multivriate analysis of dairy farming practices among rehabilitated and nomadic van Gujjars in Haridwar,Uttranchal (Ph.D. Thesis), NDRI Deemed University, Karnal,India. [8] S P Mishra (1979), A study of farm entrepreneurship in backward district of Bihar(PhD Thesis), IARI Deemed University, New Delhi, India.